1.2 Comparing and Ordering Numbers

Adam collected $2234 last year, and Maya collected $2319, who collected more money?

Adam has 2 thousands, 2 hundreds, 3 tens, 4 ones

and Maya: 2 thousands, 3 hundreds, 1 tens, 9 ones.

Notice that Maya has more money than Adam, or we can say Adam has less money than Maya.

We write this statement in math as:

2319 > 2234 Or 2234 < 2319

Greater than

Less than

Greater than

28 > 23

Equal To

51 = 51

Less than

54 < 75

Exercises

1. Circle the number that is greater in each pair.

5062,

5845

9323

, 8999

2. Circle the number that is less in each pair.

4620,

4600

3762

, 4031

3. Write > or < or =.

493

501

7761

7762

9631

4031

5931

3211

3220

97456

97645

Ascending order

Ordering numbers from the least to the greatest is called ascending order.

Example

Write the following in an ascending order.

8430, 2399, 7419, 1299.

Solution

1299 < 2399 < 7419 < 8430.

Exercise

Write the following numbers in an ascending order:

a 25, 41, 37, 99

b 10, 70, 49, 59

c 809, 739, 167, 341

d 4312, 3512, 6000, 5799

e 7233, 7200, 7300, 7001

f 4299, 3410, 4020, 999

Descending order

Ordering numbers from the greatest to the least is called descending order.

Example

Write the following in a descending order.

9430, 2399, 1299, 5414.

Solution

9430 > 5419 > 2399 > 1299.

Exercise

Write the following numbers in a descending order:

a 30, 40, 25, 72

b 70, 49, 56, 10

c 133, 167, 120, 740

d 859, 842, 456, 291

e 5640, 6321, 6452, 5550

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